Semeta’s confirmation comes after he warned the EU’s 27 member states last month that they “should refrain from negotiating, initialling or ratifying agreements with Switzerland” if some of the countries’ provisions interfere with EU legislation.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, wants to negotiate an EU-wide tax deal with Switzerland, but that has been held up by disagreements over the automatic exchange of information about Swiss bank deposits held by EU citizens.

In the meantime, several individual member states have negotiated their own deals with Switzerland.

Semeta said a separate accord with Austria, received by the commission last Thursday, was still being assessed.

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